When a pool is drained and filled once, its rules keep their own times.

1. Before the work

   • where a date lets an old pool keep older rules 1
   • Queensland (QBCC page): no date stated
   • Victoria (BPC page): no date stated
   • NSW: three barrier standards, set by construction date 2

2. Draining

   • ACT: Icon Water’s four conditions for the sewer 3
   • SA Health (filter backwash), the Water Corporation (WA) and Sydney Water: which drain pool water may use 4

3. Empty

   • NSW: an altered barrier is re‑set to today’s standard 5
   • NSW: the CPR sign changes when the barrier is substantially altered or rebuilt 6
   • a national ban on pools and spas with potty-style skimmers 7
   • NSW, Tasmania, Queensland and the ACT: who may do which part 8

4. Refilling

   • Sydney Water: a permit may be needed before the water goes back 9
   • SA Health: chlorine and pH ranges, where chlorine is used 10

5. After the work

   • NSW: the fence height and the non-climbable zone 11
   • QLD and NSW: how long the certificate lasts; ACT: the 2028 barrier date 12

Not every renovation empties a pool: the ACT utility’s conditions for draining a domestic pool to the sewer name major repairs or repainting.

The numbers, one by one

1. 1
   The date lines, state by state, and two pages with no date. NSW Fair Trading applies three pool safety standards by construction date; SA.GOV.AU keeps a pool built before 1 July 1993 on the old Swimming Pools Safety Act 1972 while the property is not for sale, and a pool built on or after that date on the rules current when its construction application was submitted; the WA Government lets a pool that went in before 1 May 2016 meet the older standard, AS 1926.1‑1993, with the child-resistant doors rules left out; Building Standards Tasmania requires a barrier for a pool or spa holding 300mm of water or more and installed from 1994 onwards, and recommends one for older pools; ACT Planning requires a barrier meeting current standards from 1 May 2028; the QBCC asks a pool owner to register the pool, hold a fence that meets the pool barriers safety standard and maintain it; and Victoria’s Building and Plumbing Commission requires every pool or spa to be registered with the council and to have a compliant safety barrier in place.
2. 2
   NSW Fair Trading says there are three different Pool Safety Standards, applied by when the pool was constructed, and that AS 1926.1‑2012 covers safety barriers for swimming pools constructed after 1 May 2013.
3. 3
   Icon Water’s acceptance guideline for discharges from pools allows a domestic pool into the sewer only where every one of these is true: the pool is being emptied so that major repairs or repainting can be done; the sewer is the only drain the property has; pumping the water to the environment or to stormwater is not a workable option; and the water being discharged meets the quality requirements the utility sets.
4. 4
   The discharge rules are each source’s own, at its own scope; SA Health’s is about filter backwash. SA Health: in sewered areas, the water used to backwash the filter must always be disposed to sewer. The Water Corporation in Western Australia: for a domestic pool or spa, backwash and drainage are not classed as trade waste and may not go into the sewer. Sydney Water: water from a pool or spa may not go into the stormwater system, because it is chlorinated and needs treatment, and chlorinated water goes to the wastewater system.
5. 5
   NSW Fair Trading: if the swimming pool barrier is modified or altered, and it says this may include house and yard renovations, then the current Swimming Pools Act 1992, Swimming Pools Regulation 2018 and Australian Standard AS1926.1‑2012 apply and previous exemptions cease.
6. 6
   NSW Fair Trading: new CPR signs came into effect on 1 September 2019, and all new pools must use the updated signage. Owners of existing pools are not required to update theirs unless the pool barrier is substantially altered or rebuilt.
7. 7
   Product Safety Australia: there is a permanent ban on pools and spas with unsafe design features like potty-style skimmer boxes and outlets that do not prevent the entrapment of hair and body parts, and swimming pools and spas with potty-style skimmer boxes are unsafe.
8. 8
   Who may do which part. In NSW, the Building Commission’s pool trades page says you must have a licence or certificate to do swimming pool repairs and servicing work, and a contractor licence for residential building or trade work valued at more than $5,000 in labour and materials including GST. In Tasmania, a pool safety barrier has to be put in by a licensed builder, with a licensed building surveyor overseeing the work. In Queensland, work you estimate at more than $11,000 including labour and materials needs a QBCC Owner-builder permit before you do it. In the ACT, the installation or construction of a pool may need to be undertaken by a licensed builder and signed off by a licensed building surveyor, a certifier.
9. 9
   Sydney Water asks that the Water Wise Guidelines be checked before any water is removed, to see whether refilling the pool needs a permit. Applications are considered one by one, and a permit is approved only where the drain and the refill cannot be avoided.
10. 10
    SA Health: if chlorine is used, the free residual chlorine concentration in your pool should be maintained at 1.0 to 3.0 mg/L, the ideal level is 2 mg/L, and the pH range must be maintained within 7.2 to 7.6 for chlorine to work efficiently.
11. 11
    NSW Fair Trading gives the inspection its measurements: a pool fence must be at least 1.2m high as measured from the finished ground level; where a boundary fence is part of the pool fence, the barrier must be 1.8m high; and trees, shrubs or other objects such as a barbecue, pot plants, toys, ladders and chairs must not be within the 90cm non-climbable zone.
12. 12
    The paper that follows the pool. In Queensland, a pool safety certificate is valid for 2 years for a non-shared pool, and a buyer without one must get one within 90 days of settlement. In NSW, a certificate of compliance is valid for 3 years. In the ACT, home swimming pools and spas must have a safety barrier meeting current standards from 1 May 2028.